Crucial financial moves to make during the 5 years before retirement

Although most of us dream about what life will be like when we no longer have to set our alarm and rush off to work for five (or more!) days per week, actually getting to that point can be a challenge. One key reason for this is because, even if you’ve saved and invested, part – or even all – of your savings could quickly and easily be wiped out if you don’t make the right financial moves. This is particularly true during the five-year period of time immediately preceding your retirement.

The Right Retirement Income Tools Can Depend on Several Key Factors

What exactly are the best moves to make prior to stepping into retirement? The answer to that will actually depend on what your specific goals are. Just like most anything else, there is no single financial strategy or tool that will be right for everyone. That being said, though, there are ways that you can narrow down the best financial vehicle(s) for you. And, getting the right foundation or framework in place is absolutely essential during the five years before you retire. Why is that? First and foremost, during this five-year time period, your “human capital” (i.e., your ability to earn a salary) is dwindling. In addition, your resilience to stock market downturns is also fading fast – particularly because you’ll have far less time to recover from losses than someone who has a decade or more. It is also important that you have retirement-related goals in place. For instance, ask yourself what you truly want to do with your time – and how much money will that take? While sitting on the beach or playing golf every day might sound enticing, the reality is that this can become mundane. With that in mind, the happiest retirees are those who have a purpose, such as volunteering at a favorite charity, writing a book, learning how to paint, or even starting a new business endeavor. Having an active social life is also a key to your happiness in retirement. Once you have your goals in place, the next step is to create an income strategy that will help you to achieve them. Here, for example, you need to determine how much you will be required to spend on living expenses such as housing, transportation, and food, as well as on entertainment and fun. There are several ways to create a retirement income strategy. These can include the receipt of interest from bonds, dividends from stocks, rent checks from investment properties, and/or regular payments from an annuity. But, while all of these methods can certainly provide you with regular incoming cash flow, there is really only one – the annuity – that guarantees you a steady stream of income for the remainder of your life – regardless of what happens in the market, or even in the economy overall. For many people, using an annuity to provide them with a set amount of “base” income can alleviate the concern about running out of money before “running out of time”. And, coordinating annuity income with other strategies can still allow for added growth opportunities throughout the years.

How to Determine Your Best Financial Moves Before You Retire

Unless you spend hours and hours each day analyzing financial and insurance products, it can be difficult to determine which one(s) can help you to reach your short- and long-term monetary goals. So, where can you get more information? Funny you should ask because, at Annuity Gator, our primary focus is on educating consumers and financial professionals about annuities. Our experts DO spend hours each day delving into the nitty-gritty details and fine print. We’ve researched, analyzed, and reviewed hundreds of annuities of all shapes and sizes – and we’ve shared our findings in our expansive annuity database where you’ll find in-depth details about the good, the bad, and yes even the ugly. Getting all of the facts up-front, though, can help you to decide whether or not an annuity – or even a certain type of annuity – would be right for you. We believe that this is a crucial step to take before you step into retirement. If you’d like to learn more about adding a guaranteed lifetime paycheck to your overall financial plan, give us a call or send us an email to set up a time to chat with one of your annuity experts.